Shoe



May 5, 1970 F. VIETAS SHOE Filed July 17. 1968 3,509,646 SHOE FrankVietas, Bedford, Mass., assignor to A. R. Hyde & Sons Co., Cambridge,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 17, 1968, Ser. No.745,491

Int. Cl. A43b US. Cl. 362.5 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBackground of the invention High-cut shoes which extend up over theankle usually have laces for securing them on the wearers foot. Suchhigh-cut shoes are often difiicult and time-consuming to properly fitand secure on a wearers foot. These problems are quite common inconnection with shoe skates, and are most objectionable when such skatesare put on at outdoor rinks or on ponds. Under these conditions adverseweather conditions often make it difficult and quite uncomfortable toproperly tighten the laces of the shoe skate. As a result, shoe skatesare frequently worn by skaters with the laces improperly adjusted andtightened. This is especially unfortunate in skating since it isimportant to make sure that the shoe skate snugly fits about the wearersfoot.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides footwear havinga highupper and sole with the upper including a pair of quarters havingforward edges or ears which overlap the tongue of the shoe. A pluralityof lacing means, preferably in the form of eyelets, extendlongitudinally of the ears. These eyelets are adapted to receive lacesfor tightening the footwear about the wearers foot. A zipper in theupper extends from the top line of the upper toward the sole on an arcsubstantially parallel to one forward edge so as to permit the upper tobe opened by unzipping the zipper for insertion or removal of a footwithout unlacing the footwear.

Brief description of the drawings The foregoing objects and advantagesof the present invention will be more clearly understood when consideredin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a shoe skate embodying a preferred form ofthe invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional detail on an enlarged scale taken on theline 2--2 of FIG. 1.

Detailed description of preferred embodiment The drawing illustrates apreferred embodiment of the invention in a shoe skate. However, theprinciples described may be applied to other styles of high-cut footwearin which there is a need or desire for easy insertion or removal of thefoot. Such footwear would include, for example, ski boots and otherhigh-cut athletic footwear.

The shoe skate illustrated has a high-cut shoe 1 to which is attached byconventional means a skate blade 2. The skate blade 2 may be of anyconventional shape. In the embodiment illustrated, the blade 2 is afigure skate United States Patent 3,509,646 Patented May 5, 1970 whichis riveted by rivets 3 extending through the skate plates 4 and 5 to thesole 6 and heel 7 respectively of the shoe 1.

The shoe specifically illustrated is a high-cut bal pattern shoe.However, other general styles including a highcut Blucher pattern may beused. In this arrangement, the shoe 1 is provided with opposed,conventional quarters 8 which are attached together at the rear edge bya back seam 9. These quarters define a top line 10 that extends normallyabove the wearers ankle and forward edges or ears 11. The forward edgesor ears 11 extend from the top line 10 centrally forwardly to the vamp12. The ears 11 are provided with conventional rows of lacing eyelets 14with the eyelets extending at substantially uniform distances apart fromnear the top line 10 to the vamp 12. These eyelet rows are adapted toreceive a lace 15 which is conventionally threaded through the row ofeyelets 14 which are shown, and the opposing row of eyelets in thequarter which is not shown in the illustration. The shoe is alsoprovided with a tongue 16 which extends upwardly from the vamp beneath.and between the ears 11. A zipper 18 extends from the top line 10arcuately downwardly and rearwardly in the quarter '8, preferably theoutside quarter, as illustrated, to a point just forward of the forwardend of the instep and just rearward of the rear portion of the toe. Thezipper 18 preferably has an are which substantially conforms at itslower end 20 with the arc of the car 11 of the quarter 8 in which it isformed. At its upper end 21 the zipper is arcuately flared rearwardly toa point 22 which is substantially directly above the ankle and is closerto the back seam 9 than to the upper end of the forward edge or cars 11.

The zipper 18 is formed of a slider 25 which conventionally engages theteeth 26 alternately attached to the opposed parallel strips 27 and 28.Strips 27 and 28 are stitched between the quarter 8 and a full lining 29which is preferably formed of leather and is suitably cemented orstitched to the inner surfaces of the quarters 8. The outside quarter 8is longitudinally cut along an are extending from the top line 10, asillustrated in FIG. 1, to a point 19 near the vamp. The strips 27 and 28are stitched to opposite edges of the cut or split on the rear surfaceof the outside quarter 8 by the parallel stitches 30 and 31. Thesestitches preferably are quite close to the split edges 33 and 34. Thestrips 27 and 28 and the split edges of the outside quarter 8 aresecured to the liner 29 by stitches 35 and 36 which extend through thesethree layers. This stitching effectively outwardly flares the edges 33and 44 to provide a projecting lip or edge which also functions as adecorative element about the periphery of the stitching. The lining 29is split along a line 40 which extends parallel to the edges 33 and 34with the split 40 preferably longitudinally aligned with edge 34 so thatthe lining 29 provides a full backing immediately behind the row ofteeth 26.

In wearing this shoe skate the wearer will first properly loosen thelaces 15 and then insert his foot with the zipper closed. Aftertightening the laces to properly adjust the shoe skate, the wearer canthereafter remove his foot from the shoe skate and place his foot backinto the shoe skate by the simple expedient of zipping and unzipping thezipper 18. Thus, no further adjustment is required unless the lacestighten. This effectively permits the wearer to rapidly put the skateson and take them off in the absence of the zipper 18.

I claim:

1. A high-cut boot comprising a sole and an upper, said upper adapted toextend upwardly over the wearers ankle and having a tongue and a pair ofquarters having forward edges adapted to overlap the tongue, a pluralityof means extending longitudinally of and in said edges and adapted toreceive lacing for tightening said footwear about the wearers footcomprising a plurality of eyelet rows through which said lacing may bethreaded, means forming a slit from the top line of one of said quartersdownwardly towards said sole, a zipper in said one quarter for securingthe opposite sides of said slit together and extending from the top lineof said upper towards its sole and adapted on opening to prevent removalof the wearers foot from the footwear without unlacing said laces, alining for said one quarter, said zipper having a pair of parallelstrips to which alternate teeth of said zipper are attached, said stripshaving longitudinally extending edges positioned between said onequarter and the lining attached thereto, stitches securing said stripsto said one quarter and said lining, said stitches comprising aplurality of rows of stitches on opposite side of said slit with one rowof said stitches extending through said quarter and strip and the otherrow of stitching extending through said quarter strip and lining withsaid slit sides flared outwardly from said zipper, said zipper-extendingareuately downwardly from the top line close to the back seam and theforward edge towards to vamp of the footwear, said lining having a slitextending parallel to and in alignment with one side of said slit in onequarter.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,648,101 11/1927 Ascheim 36501,798,470 3/1931 Janke .L 3650 1,798,471 3/1931 Janke 36-50 1,986,5801/1935 Johnson 362.5

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 3650

